Vehicle-wheel.



No. 686,858. Patented Nov. l9, I90l. A. MAGMAHUN.

VEHICLE WHEEL. (Apphcahon filed Apr 4 1901 ALEXAN DER MAC MAHON (NoModel.)

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER MACMAHON, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,858, dated November19, 1901. Application filed April 4, 1901. Serial No. 54,278. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER MACMA- HON, a subject of the King ofEngland, residing at New York city, New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Vehicle-Wheels, of which the following is aclear, full, and exact description.

My invention relates to a vehicle-wheel; and my object is to produce atire which is cheap and which may be securely held in position on therim. With this object in view I have constructed a tire which has atread of resilient material with a backing of fabric at tached theretoand projecting into a flange at each side of the tread. This tire isadapted to be seated in a hollowed-out portion on the outercircumference of the. wheel-rim, and means may be provided for engagingthe tire above these flanges to hold the same securely in place.

My invention will be pointed out in the claim.

Several embodiments of my invention are shown in the drawings, in which-Figures 1 to 4 are sectional views through the tire, fastening means,and rim; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a wheel-rim with the tire inplace.

In the above views the tread A of the tire is'formed of resilientmaterial, preferably rubber, and I prefer to make it solid, as shown.This main portion of the tire has a strengthening backing B of fabricattached thereto, preferably byincorporating the same with the rubber ofthe tire and Vulcanizing the whole together when the tire is formed. Iprefer to form this backing of several layers of canvas, as shown, and,if desired, this may be in the form of a plurality of long stripssuperposed on each other and wider than the tread, as shown in Figs. 1,3, and 4, or it may be formed of a broad strip of fabric folded overupon itself, as shown in Fig. 3. This backing preferably runs entirelyaround the inner circumference of the tire. By backing I merely meanthat it is located below the tread. This backing projects laterallybeyond the tread and forms a flange at each side, preferably acontinuous flange, running entirely around the tire at each side.

The inner portion of the tire maybe located in a hollowed portionrunning around the outer circumference of the rim D, as shown, andsuitable fastening means may be provided above these flanges forsecurely hold- :5 ing the tire in place. I have shown circular hoops ofspring-wire O O, which may be sprung over the edges of the rim, ifdesired; but I do not limit myself to such fastening means.

As the fabric backing projects beyond the sides of the tread, the strainexerted by the fastening devices will come upon this fabric almostentirely, especially when the fastening device is seated directly on thebacking, as in Fig. 4, and as the fabric is much stronger than therubber of the tire the tire will be much more securely held in placethan if the flanges were composed merely of rubber. If the flanges weremade entirely of rubber, the hoops would cut the same and the tire wouldbecome loose; but the fabric backing may be tightly clamped by thefastening-hoops without this disadvantage and will afiord a secureanchorage and yet at the same time a slightly-yielding support for thehoops, so as to allow for slight variations in size of the hoops.

I am aware that many variations from the constructions illustrated anddescribed may be made without departing from the scope of my inventionas claimed, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to the specificembodiments herein disclosed.

It will be observed that in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the hoops 0 do not restdirectly upon the fabric backing, but upon the interposed portion ofresilient material of the tread. This construction has the advantagethat when it is desired to spring the fastening-hoops over the edges ofthe rim into place the rubber or other resilient material between thehoops and the fabric backing will yield and allow the hoops to be moreeasily sprung over the opposite side of the rim. Furthermore, this 5construction not only holds the backing firmly in place, but as aportion of the resilient material from which the tread is formed islocated underneath the hoops there is much less danger of the treadbeing torn away from the fabric backing than might be the case in aconstruction such as shown in Fig. 4, in which the hoops rest directlyupon the fabric backing.

portion of said rim and having the flanges thereof located below theupper edges of said rim, and a resilient metallic hoop adapted to besprung over the edge of said rim at side of said tread above saidflanges for holding I 5 said tire in place on said rim, one of saidflanges of rubber being adapted to allow the sinking of said hoop intosaid flange at one side of said wheel, While said hoop is being sprungover the edge of said rim at another portion of said wheel.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 3d day of April, 1901.

ALEXANDER MACMAHON.

Witnesses:

EMERSON R. NEwELL, O. P. METOALF.

